Wheel-changing apparatus.



E. M. MULLER.

WHEEL CHANGING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED 00130, 1912.

; Patented Apr. 8, 1913.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l.

INVENTOR'. Edvard M.Mu1lar BY Omd, 060mb,

\ ATTORNEYS coLll'MBu PLANOGRAPH c0, WASHINGTON, D. r

WITNESSES:

B. M. MOLLER.

WHEEL CHANGING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED 0013.30, 1912.

Patented Apr. 8, 1913.

3 SHEETSSHEET 2.

INVENTUR; Edvgrd M.Mn1lar, Q wwd/ ATTORNEYS COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH co.. WASHINGTON. u v.

'E. M. MULLER.

WHEEL CHANGING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED 00130, 1912.

1,058,251. Patented Apr. 8, 1913.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

WITNESSES: INVENTOR ATTORNEYS COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH CO..WASHINGTON. D. c.

EDVARD M. MOLLER, OF JERSEY CITY, NEW JEfiSEY.

WHEEL-CHANGING- APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 8, 1913.

Application filed October 30, 1912. Serial No. 728,551.

To all whom. it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDVARD M. MOLLER, a citizen of the United States, residing at J ersey City, in the county of Hudson and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in WVheel-Ghanging Apparatus; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to characters of reference marked there on, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates, generally, to improvements in a device or apparatus for changing the wheels of railway cars, without taking out the trucks; and, the present invention has for its principal object to provide a simply constructed power-driven and efficiently operating lowering and hoisting apparatus which is used in connection with a section of railway track or rails upon the surface, and with a receiving pit, containing a section of rails, the platform of the lowering and hoisting apparatus being adapted to receive the wheels and connecting aXle, without removing the truck from the car-body, and the removed wheels and axle being lowered by means of the platform into the pit, and the removed wheels being run from the lowered platform onto rails with which said platform makes connection, a new set of wheels being adapted to be moved upon the lowered platform, and raised to the top, in position with the surfacerails, to be readily replaced in their operative relation in the truck of the car.

The invention has for its further object to provide a novel and quickly operating power-driven mechanism for the purposes herein-above stated, by means of which damaged or worn-down car-wheels may be quickly removed, and replaced by new wheels, without removing the truck from the car-body, thereby avoiding the usual tedious and time-consuming manual operation of changing car-wheels, as heretofore.

Other objects of this invention not at this time more particularly enumerated will be clearly understood from the following detailed description of the present invention.

\Vith the various objects of the present invention in view, the said invention consists, primarily, in the novel car-wheel changing apparatus hereinafter more particularly set forth; and, the invention consists, furthermore, in the novel arrangements and combinations of the various devices and parts, as well as in the details of the construction of the same, all of which will be more fully described in the following specification, and then finally embodied in the clauses of the claim which are appended to and which form an essential part of this specification.

The invention is fully illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:-

Figure l is a plan View of a car-wheel changing device or apparatus, showing one embodiment of the principles of the present invention; Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical sectional representation of the same, said section being taken on line 2-2 in said Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is a longitudinal vertical section of the device or apparatus.

Similar characters of reference are employed in the said above described views, to indicate corresponding parts.

Referring now to the said drawings, the reference-character 1 indicates a suitable concrete foundation, and 2 indicates the usual frame-work of the main pit 3, with which communicates the longitudinally extending pit-extensions 4 and 5, and the laterally projecting pit-extensions 6 and 7.

In the bottom of the main pit 3 is a laterally extending and suitably-formed depression, as 8, with which communicates a chambered portion, as 9, located below the bottom of the pit-extension 6, and closed therefrom by means of removable closing means or trap-doors, as. 10 and 11, as illustrated in Fig. 2 of the drawings. Entrance may also be had into the pit-extension 6 through an opening 12 which may be suitably closed by means of trap-door 13, or other suitable closing devices. Suitably disposed within the said chambered portion 9 is.an electric motor 14, and 15 indicates the driving shaft thereof, said shaft having mounted thereon a pinion l6. Rotatably mounted in the bearings 17 of a block 18 is a shaft 19, which is provided with a gear-wheel 20 in mesh with the pinion 16, for driving said shaft 19. Coupled to the free end-portion of said shaft 19, by means of a coupling device, as 21, or in any other suitable manner, is a shaft 22, said shaft22 extending through the depression 8, and being rotatablymounted in suitable bearings 23 and 24, the said shaft 22 being also provided, at or near the said bearings 23 and 24:, with suitable bevelgears 25 and 26. Suitably secured upon the bottom or floor of the main pit 3, and extending directly across the said depression 8, are a pair of plate-like elements or member 27, each element or member 27 being formed with a centrally disposed bearing-portion 28, and a pair of receiving sockets, as 29. Rotatably mounted in the said bearing-portions 28 of the said plate-like elements or members 27 are short vertical spindles 30, said spindles having suit-ably secured upon their lower end-portions, suitable bevelgears 31 and 32, respectively in mesh with the previously mentioned bevel-gears 25 and 26, fordriving the said vertical spindles 30, as will be clearly evident. Each vertical spindle 30 has suitably secured upon its upper end portion, a pinion 33, and in mesh with each pinion 33 are a pair of horizontally disposed gear-wheels 34. By this means an arrangement of four of such gearwheels 34 is provided, each gear-wheel 34 having arranged in its hub 35 an internally screw-threaded sleeve or nut-like member 36, each sleeve or nut-like member 36 being located directly above and being in vertical alinement with a receiving socket 29 of the respective plate-like members or elements 27, as clearly shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings. Suitably connected with and extending in downward directions from the said several receiving sockets 29, and vertically embedded in the concrete foundation, are tubular receiving members 37, the purposes of which will be presently more fully specified.

Suitably secured to a pair of beams, as 38, at the sides of the main pit 3, and extending longitudinally of the pit, are a pair of vertical and downwardly extending guidebeams or rails, as 39, upon each pair of which are slidably arranged a pair of suitably constructed rail-carrying frames, as 40, each frame 40 carrying a rail-section 41. Each rail-section 41 is provided upon its lower surface with a pair of socket-like members 42, and rotatably arranged in each socket 42 is the upper end-portion of a vertically disposed screw -threaded rod 43. The said screw-threaded rods, of which there are four, extend downwardly and into and through suitable oiling sockets or cups 44 arranged in the flooring 45, the respective rods 43 having their lower end-portions screwed into the respective screw-threaded sleeves or nut-like members 36 withwhich the hubs 35 of the gear-wheels 34 are provided. The said lower end-portions of the screwth1eaded rods 43 project from the lower portions of the said sleeves or nut-like members 36, into and through the respective receiving sockets 29 and into the upper portions of the tubular receiving members 37, as will be clearly evident fro-m an inspection of said Fig. 3 of the drawings. Each pair of said short rail-sections 41, when the screw-threaded rods 43 are in their normally raised positions, make a continuous connection with the surface-rails 46, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, but when the said screwthreaded rods 43 and their short rail-sections 41 are brought into their lowered positions in the bottom of the pit 3, then the said rail-sections 41 are adapted to make a Continu'ous connection with a set of rails, as 47, which are located in the bottom of the longitudinally extending pitextensions 4 and 5, the said rails 47 having their ends projecting into the said pit 3, substantially as shown. From an inspection of the several figures of the drawings, it will be clearly evident, that when the shaft 22 revolves in one direction, the actuated gear-wheels 34 will cause the screw-threaded rods 43 to be moved downwardly into the said receiving members 37, thus bringing the rail-sections 41 from positions at the top of the pit 3, and when connecting with the surface-rails 46, into their lowered positions within the pit 3, so that they will connect with the rails 47.

From the foregoing description of the present invention it will be clearly evident, that a simply constructed and effectively operating wheel-changing apparatus has been provided, and all that is necessary is to run the two wheels which are to be removed upon the two rail-sections 41, block up the one end of the car-body, also removing the parts of the journal-boxes, and then by lowering the rail sections 41, the two car-wheels and their axle are also lowered into the pit 3, without disturbing the position and con- 4 nections of the truck to the body of the car. As soon as the rails 41 make connection with the rails 47, the removed wheels and aXle are rolled from the rail'sections 41 upon the rails 47 and into the pit-extension 5, a new set of wheels and axle being rolled from the pit-extension 4 upon the said rail-sections 41. The operating mechanism is thereupon reversed, so that the screw-threaded rods 43 and the rail-sections 41 will again be brought into their raised relations, with the rail-sections 41 closing the gaps between the surface-rails 46, and the new set of carwheels and axle in position to be operatively connected with the ournal boxes of the truck of the car.

I am aware that some changes may be made in the general arrangements and combinations of the various devices and parts, as well. as in the details of the construction of the said parts, without departing from the scope of the present invention as set forth in the foregoing specification, and as defined in the clauses of the claim which are appended thereto. Hence, I do not limit my present invention to the exact arrangements and combinations of the various devices and parts, as described in the said specification, nor do I confine myself to the exact details of the construction of the said parts as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

I claim 1. In a wheel-changing device of the character described, in combination with two sets of railway rails located in difierent planes one above the other, each set of rails being provided with a gap, of rotatably and vertically movable screw-threaded rods, rail-sections mounted upon the upper end-portions of said rods, and means for lowering and raising said rods for bringing said rail-sections into closing relation with the gaps in either of said sets of railway rails, consisting of bearing-plates or elements provided with receiving sockets in alinement with said screw-threaded rods, a gear-wheel rotatably located above each receiving socket, each gear-wheel being provided with an internally screw-threaded hub in which a screwthreaded rod is rotatably arranged, pinions mounted upon said bearing-plates and in mesh with the said gear-wheels, and means for actuating said pinions.

2. In a wheel-changing device of the character described, in combination with two sets of railway rails located in different planes one above the other, each set of rails being provided with a gap, of rotatably and vertically movable screw-threaded rods, railsectio-ns mounted upon the upper end-portions of said rods, and means for lowering and raising said rods for bringing said railsections into closing relation with the gaps in either of said sets of railway rails, consisting of bearing-plates or elements provided with receiving sockets in alinement with said screw-threaded rods, a gear-wheel rotatably located above each receiving socket, each gear-wheel being provided with an internally screw-threaded hub in which a screw-threaded rod is rotatably arranged, pinions mounted upon said bearing-plates and in mesh wit-h the said gear-wheels, a vertical spindle connected with each pinion, a bevel-gear upon each vertical spindle, a horizontally extending shaft, bevel-gears upon said shaft in mesh with the respective bevel-gears upon said vertical spindles, and means for operating said horizontal shaft, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

8. In a wheel-changing device of the char acter described, in combination with two sets of railway-rails located in difierent planes one above the other, each set of rails being provided with a gap, of rotatably and vertically movable screw-threaded rods, rail-sections mounted upon the upper end-portions of said rods, and means for lowering and raising said rods for bringing said railsections into closing relation with the gaps in either of said sets of railway rails, con

sisting of bearing-plates or elements provided with receiving sockets in alinement with said screw-threaded rods, a gear-wheel rotatably located above each receiving socket, each gear-wheel being provided with an internally screw-threaded hub in which a screw-threaded rod is rotatably arranged, pinions mounted upon said bearing-plates and in mesh with the said gearwheels, and means for actuating said pinions, and vertically disposed tubular members located beneath said receiving sockets into and out of which said screw-threaded rods are moved, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

A In a wheel-changing device of the char acter described, in combination with two sets of railway rails located in different planes one above the other, each set of rails being provided with a gap, of rotatably and vertically movable screw-threaded rods, railsections mounted upon the upper end-portions of said rods, and means for lowering and raising said rods for bringing said rail-sections into closing relation with the gaps in either of said sets of railway rails, consisting of bearing-plates or elements provided with receiving sockets in alinement with said screw-threadedrods, a gear-wheel rotatably located above each receiving socket, each gear-wheel being provided with an internally screw-threaded hub in which a screw-threaded rod is rotatably arranged, pinions mounted upon said bearing-plates and in mesh with the said gear-wheels, a vertical spindle connected with each pinion, a bevel-gear upon each vertical spindle, a horizontally extending shaft, bevel-gears upon said shaft in mesh with the respective bevel-gears upon said vertical spindles, and means for operating said horizontal shaft, and vertically disposed tubular members located beneath said receiving sockets into and out of which said screw-threaded rods are moved, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

In a wheel-changing device of the character described, a main pit formed with pitextensions, a set of railway rails located upon the surface above said pit-extensions and having portions projecting over the main pit and forming gaps, a second set of railway rails located within said pit-extensions and having portions projecting into said main pit and forming gaps, vertical guide-rails in said main pit, rail-carrying frames slidably connected with said guiderails, rail-sections secured to said frame, screw-threaded rods rotatably connected with and extending downwardly from said rail-sections, and means for actuating said screw-threaded rods so as to lower and raise said rail-carrying frames and cause said rail-sections to close the gaps in either of said sets of railway rails, consisting of bearing-plates or elements provided with receiving sockets in alinement with said screwthreaded rods, a gear-wheel rotatably located above each receiving socket, each gearwheel being provided with an internally screw-threaded hub in which a screwthreaded rod is rotatably arranged, pinions mounted upon said bearing-plates and in mesh with the said gear-wheels, and means for actuating said pinions.

(5. In a wheel-changing device of the character described, a main pit formed with piteXtensions, a set of railway rails located upon the surface above said pit-extensions and having portions projecting over the main pit and forming gaps, a second set of railway rails located within said pit-extensions and having portions projecting into said main pit and forming gaps, vertical guiderails in said main pit, rail-carrying frames slidably connected with said guiderails, rail-sections secured to said frames, screw-threaded rods rotatably connected with and extending downwardly from said rail-sections, and means for actuating said. screw-threaded rods so as to lower and raise said railcarrying frames and cause said rail-sections to close the gaps in either of said sets of railway rails, consisting of bean ing-plates or elements provided with receiving sockets in alinement with said screwthreaded rods, a gear-wheel rotatably located above each receiving socket, each gearwheel being provided with an internally screw-threaded hub in which a screwthreaded rod is rotatably arranged, pinions mounted upon said bearing-plates and in mesh with the said. gear-wheels, a vertical spindle connected with each pinion, a bevelgear upon each vertical spindle, a horizontally extending shaft, bevel gears upon said vertical spindles, and means for operating said horizontal shaft, substantially as ant for the purposes set forth. 7

7. In a wheel-changing device of the character described, a main pit formed with pitextensions, a set of railway rails located upon the surface above said pit-extensions and having portions projecting over the main pit and forming gaps, a second set of railway rails located within said pit-extensions and having portions projecting into said main pitand forming gaps, consisting of bearing-plates or elements provided with receiving sockets in alinement ,with said screw-threaded rods, a gear-wheel rotatably located above each receiving socket, each gear-wheel being provided with an internally screw-threaded hub in which a screwthreaded rod is rotatably arranged, pinions mounted upon said bearing-plates and in mesh with the said gear-wheels, and means for actuating said pinions, and vertically disposed tubular members located beneath said receiving sockets into and out of which said screw-threaded rods are moved, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

8. In a wheel-changing device of the character described, a main pit formed with piteXtensions, a set of railway rails located upon the surface above said pit-extensions and having portions projecting over the main pit and forming gaps, a second set of railway rails located within said pit-extensions and having portions projecting into said main pit and forming gaps, vertical guide-rails in said main pit, rail-carrying frames slidably connected with said guiderails, rail-sections secured to said frames, screw-threaded rods rotatably connected with and extending downwardly from said rail-sections, and means for actuating said screw-threaded rods so as to lower and raise said rail-carrying frames and cause said railsections to close the gaps in either of said sets of railway rails, consisting of bearing plates or elements provided with receiving sockets inalinement with said screw threaded rods,a gear-wheel rotatably located aboveeach receiving socket, each gear-wheel be ing provided with an internally screwthreaded hub in which a screw-threaded rod is rotatably arranged, pinions mounted upon said bearing-plates and in mesh with the said gear-wheels, a vertical spindle connected with each pinion, a bevel-gear upon each vertical spindle, a horizontally extending shaft, bevel gears upon said shaft in mesh with the respective bevel-gears upon said vertical spindles, and means for operating said horizontal shaft, and vertically disposed tubular members located beneath said receiving sockets into and out of which said screw-threaded rods are moved, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

In testimony, that I claim the invention set forth above I have hereunto set my hand this 28th day of October, 1912.

EDVARD M. MOLL ER. lVitnesses FREDK. G. FRAENTZEL, FRnnK. H. V. FRAENTZEL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). C. 

